Preparation of 4-aryl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-3,3-dimethylisoquinolines and 1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-3,3-dimethyl-4-phenylbenz[h]isoquinolines

Synthetic procedures to prepare a number of 4-aryl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-3,3-dimethylisoquinolines and their benzo-homogues 3 through a series of intermediates are described. The condensation of α-(1-amino-1-methylethyl)arylmethanols 5 with arylaldehydes 6 gave imino derivatives 7 which on reduction with borohydride gave secondary amines 8 . The treatment of 8 with mineral acids gave the target compounds 3 . Biological activities of 3 are briefly discussed.     

New phosphate fluorosurfactants for carbon dioxide

Anionic phosphate fluorosurfactants were shown to self-assemble into water-in-carbon dioxide microemulsions. The surfactants, having either two fluorinated chains or one fluorinated chain and one hydrocarbon chain, facilitated significant water uptake in CO2. Small angle neutron scattering (SANS) measurements of surfactant/water/CO2 solutions confirmed the presence of nanometer-scale aggregates, indicative of microemulsion formation.     

Template-directed self-assembly of 10-microm-sized hexagonal plates

This article presents a strategy for the fabrication of ordered microstructures using concepts of design inspired by molecular self-assembly and template-directed synthesis. The self-assembling components are 4-microm-thick hexagonal metal plates having sides 10 microm in length ("hexagons"), and each template consists of a 4-microm-thick circular metal plate surrounding a central cavity, the perimeter of which is complementary in shape to the external edges of a two-dimensional, close-packed array of hexagons. The hexagons and templates (collectively, "pieces") were fabricated via standard procedures and patterned into hydrophobic and hydrophilic regions using self-assembled monolayers (SAMs). Templated self-assembly occurs in water through capillary interactions between thin films of a nonpolar liquid adhesive coating the hydrophobic faces of the pieces. The hexagons tile the cavities enclosed by the templates, and the boundaries of the cavities determine the sizes and shapes of the assemblies. Curing the adhesive with ultraviolet light furnishes mechanically stable arrays having well-defined morphologies. By allowing control over the structures of the resulting aggregates, this work represents a step toward the development of practical methods for microfabrication based on self-assembly.     

The use of 90°-1,3-butadiene as a reference structure for the evaluation of stabilization energies for benzene and other conjugated cyclic hydrocarbons

Reactions are described that employ 90°-1,3-butadiene as a reference structure for the evaluation of the stabilization energyof the benzenoid and other cyclic conjugated hydrocarbons. The unique benefits of this rotamer of butadiene as a reference molecule within the homodesmotic conceptual framework are discussed. Experimental stabilization energies are presented for a number of cyclic hydrocarbons.     

Billiard in a barrel

Orbits in the three-dimensional billiard of the form of a truncated ellipsoid ("barrel") are studied both analytically and numerically. A special form of mapping is proposed to get the expression for Kolmogorov-Sinai entropy, and the transition from strong chaos to weak chaos is obtained.     

Monte carlo calculations of the conformal charge

The conformal charge is an important quantity which characterizes the nature of the two-dimensional phase transition. We report a first attempt to use a new numerical method to calculate the conformal charge. In this paper, we apply our method to the 2-dimensional, ⁴, continuous-spin Ising model. By varying the parameters in the Hamiltonian, one can change continuously from the known Gaussian limit to the Ising limit. It is well known that the critical points for these two systems are not in the same universality class. We study this behavior for the Gaussian model, the single-well ⁴ model, the border model, and the double-well ⁴ model for a large lattice. Our results, while giving a good general picture, are not so far sufficient to differentiate whether the non-Gaussian cases studied belong to the Ising model universality class or not. Further studies of other lattice sizes should serve to improve greatly our conclusions.     

A collaborative study of 209 PCB congeners and 6 Aroclors on 20 different HRGC columns 2. Semi-quantitative Aroclor congener distributions

Weight percents of PCB congeners in Aroclors 1221, 1016, 1242, 1254, 1260, and 1262 were determined by separately averaging resolved peaks quantified against standards of all 209 congeners in 9 HRGC-ECD and 9 HRGC-MS systems. A separate pair of systems provided nearly complete profiles of Aroclors 1232 and 1248. The tabulated values lack sufficient accuracy to qualify the Aroclors as secondary standards for comprehensive, quantitative, congener-specific analyses, but they provide more complete and accurate semi-quantitative characterizations of congener distributions for a larger number of Aroclors than prior publications.     

Synthesis of monodisperse polymers from proteins

Proteins are functional biopolymers; viewed as molecules, they are also monodisperse polyamides with chemically reactive side chains. This paper describes the use of proteins as starting materials for the synthesis of monodisperse polymers with nonbiological functionalities attached to the side chains. It demonstrates the complete derivatization of amine groups (lysine side chains and N-termini) on three different proteins by addition of activated carboxylate reagents in aqueous solutions containing sodium dedecyl sulfate (SDS), under denaturing conditions. Several different acylating reagents were used to generate derivatized proteins; the resulting compounds constitute a new class of monodisperse, semisynthetic polymers, having the potential for wide variation in the structure of the backbone and of the side chains. Modification of lysozyme on a gram scale demonstrated that the method can generate useful quantities of material.     

Quantum Chemistry Comes of Age

On December 10, 1998, the 102nd anniversary of Alfred Nobels death, in Stockholms Konserthus (Concert Hall), Swedens King Carl XVI Gustav awarded one half of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Chemistry (3,800,000 kronor, about $489,000) to Professor John A. Pople, 73, of Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois for his development of computational methods in quantum chemistry.The remaining half of the prize, the ne plus ultra of chemistry, was awarded to Professor Walter Kohn, 75, of the University of California, Santa Barbara for his development of the density-functional theory [1–9]. Because of health problems in his family, Kohn was unable to attend the ceremony but presented his Nobel lecture in Stockholm on January 28, 1999. According to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences: The laureates have each made pioneering contributions in developing methods that can be used for theoretical studies of the properties of molecules and the chemical processes in which they are involved [7].